The US has deported thousands to third countries. This must stop | James A Goldston and Natasha Arnpriester

Monitors estimate 17,500 people have been sent to countries they may never have visited – and where they could face further danger

José Yugar-Cruz spent https://www.cbsnews.com/news/south-american-man-ice-deportation-congo/">17 months in a county jail in Muscatine, Iowa, despite never having committed a crime.

Originally from Bolivia, he entered the United States legally at the Arizona border in July 2024, affirmatively approached authorities, and requested asylum.

Six months later, a US immigration judge found he had been tortured in Bolivia, would probably face torture again if returned, and barred his removal to his home country.

The government did not appeal.

Yugar-Cruz was not released for almost a year.

Instead, ICE spent months searching unsuccessfully for somewhere else to send him.

He finally https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/judge-clears-ices-path-deport-asylum-seeker-iowa-congo">won his release in December 2025.